Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-04-08

the st. Paul railway, and are accompan-
led by chef and retinue of servants.
| They were paid many attentions as they
| journeyed through the south, and were
rendered formal receptions in Atlanta, New
Orleans and other places. 1t is a curious fact
that this is the first time in his life that one
important member of the party has been paid
any public attention. John Plankinton is
the member / refer to. Newspaper readers
everywhere are familiar with the portraits
and careers of the Armours. Phil Armour,
the pork packer, is the most conspicuous man
in the west. He is just now being boycotted
| by the entire order of the Knights of Labor
and his name, and his meats, too, have been
in the mouths of the people from one end of
the country to the other His wealth is
counted by the millions and he employs an
army of 10000 workmen. And yet John
Plankinton, the man who gave him his start
| in life, who backed his daring speculatons
and was his business partner for SO many
years, is not known by sight outside of Mil
waukee, except to his personal friends and
business acquaintance and he has lived
for sixty odd years so quietly and
unostentatiously that sketch of his remark
able career has never been printed. He is
easily worth slO,000OOO and until he turned
the bulk of his business over to the Armours
was the head of the largest pork and provi-
sion packing house in the world-Plankinton
Armour q Co. As long ago as 1880 his house
was doing business of sl5,00O,OOO year
Mr. Pnnkinton is self made man. He be-
gan at the bottom of the ladder and long ago
reached the top round. He is about G6 years
of age and is as homely as he is honest In
personal appearance he is fully six feet in
| bni oh itrbt 80,
and full of life as man of 80 His face is
smooth, and its most marked characteristic is
a very long nose A Cincinnati reporter,
who interviewed the party as they passed
through that city on the way south, said he
saw Mr.. Plankinton's nose long before he
saw the rest Of his body. His hair is worn
moderately long and is rapidly silverng.
| He wears good clothes and is scrupulously
neat This man has had most remarkable
| career. He was born in Newcastle county.
Del, March Is, 1920, and came west in 1874
That year he left Pittsburg and landed in
! Milwaukee. The place was mere village
| The young man leased ground and opened a
butcher shop. He killed the "crtters" him
self, waited upon his customers and lived
over his shop. He was industrious, frugal.
honest and obligng. He made friends and
money from the start and he saved what he
made. He ran his little shop until 1S49, when
he commenced the slaughtering and packing
business. In 1868 Phil Armour, then a ruddy
faced Young Scotchman. was t"''an into mart
nershp and the business from that time on
fairly doomed. Branch packing houses
were started in Chicago, Kansas City, st.
Louis, Cincinnati and other places, and bust
ness offices opened in New York, Liverpool
and London. The firm did an immense bust
ness. They specialized like fury, cornered
the markets time and time again and made
millions. The great corners were supposed
to be Armour's but Plankinton was really
the power behind the throne